The Valentine in the Lights
by Caroline
Summary: [BB] 'Be my Valentine, Bones.'
1. Maybe I'm Amazed

TITLE: The Valentine in the Lights  
RATING: K+  
SPOILERS: Series through the present date.  
**DEDICATION: To all those that left reviews on my first two stories -- you have definitely kept up my inspiration for writing Bonesfic, and I love you all!**

* * *

"I really don't want to go to this."

"Well, there's no getting out of it this time, Dr. Hodgins." Daniel Goodman's deep voice was firm as he stepped into the lobby of the Jeffersonian, gesturing for his employees to follow him outside. "The limo is waiting, so let's go."

"You're not the only one who doesn't want to be here right now," Temperance Brennan said sotto voce to her colleague, receiving a smile from Hodgins in response.

Angela Montenegro rolled her eyes. "Please. _We're_ all flying solo." She nodded toward the doors, and at the person jogging through them. "At least you get a hot escort."

Seeley Booth threw the anthropologist a handsome, slightly apologetic, smile. "Bones! Sorry I'm late. Traffic."

She shook her head dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I might be more annoyed with you if I actually _cared_ to go to this gala."

He furrowed his brow as he approached, immediately holding his arm out to her. "So why did you ask me to go with you?"

While Brennan looped her arm through his, Angela butted in, _"I _told her to ask you." She shrugged and smiled flirtatiously. "Some of us are in need of a little eye candy this evening."

Booth grinned back at her, and Brennan rolled her eyes, shooting her best friend a look over her shoulder. "Ange..."

"Sorry, Sweetie. I'll behave, I promise." She winked, which Booth luckily didn't catch. "He's all yours tonight."

"People!" Dr. Goodman clapped his hands. "Limo! Now! Let's go."

* * *

"Wow... when you guys throw a party, you really go all out," Booth commented upon stepping inside the lush ballroom. The interior was decorated with red balloons, white streamers, and pink crepe paper, some of the balloons in the shapes of hearts. Beautiful white tablecloths covered all the tables, and large pieces of gold and silver glitter adorned the tabletops and the bar.

"Did this party really have to be on Valentine's Day, though?" Angela complained, from behind Booth and Brennan. "I could've easily found myself three dates tonight if I wasn't roped into going to this thing."

"Ms. Montenegro, I have no control over the dates on which the Board of Trustees decide to hold formal events. I'm merely in charge of making sure the lot of you attend," Goodman replied.

Brennan sighed to herself as she and Booth, still arm-in-arm, made their way further inside. The sigh drew Booth's attention. "Y'alright, Bones?"

"Yeah, just... don't want to be here."

"Well, gee thanks. I feel real special," he teased, and winked when she looked up at him apologetically. His free hand grasped hers which was still looped through his left arm, and he leaned toward her ear. "Tell you what. We'll eat, mingle a little bit to please your boss, and then I'll get you outta here. Sound good?"

She smiled gratefully at her partner. "Sounds great. Thank you."

"It's what I'm here for..." he tilted his head slightly, "other than being Angela's eye candy, of course."

Once inside the ballroom, they each took their seats at their designated table, and Angela immediately rose to her feet and jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "I'm going to the bar. Who wants something?"

Zack and Hodgins placed orders for beer, and while Brennan was busy glancing around the ballroom, Booth smiled at her and said to Angela, "We'll take two glasses of champagne, please."

Angela raised her eyebrows at this and smiled at Brennan, who had just resumed her attention to her colleagues. "Wow, ordering champagne for you? How gentlemanly..." She grinned at Booth. "Or chauvinistic, I'm not sure which."

He glared while she giggled at him and set off for the bar. Then, turning back to Brennan, he enquired, "So Bones, while we're stuck here for a bit anyway, whaddya say we dance a little after dinner?"

She smiled, somewhat shyly, and toyed with a piece of silver glitter on the table. "Booth, I am not dancing with you."

He pouted childishly, "you did once before," which earned him a stern look through her lashes. He shrugged nonchalantly and sighed, draping his arm over the back of her chair. "Fine. If you don't wanna get out of here, I suppose then--"

"You're going to hold me hostage here unless I dance with you? What kind of escort does that?"

He leaned close to her ear with his arm still around the back of her chair, allowing his thumb to brush her bare shoulder and delighting in her shiver. "The kind of escort that might just want to dance with a beautiful woman on Valentine's Day."

Brennan felt her cheeks pinking but could do nothing about it, as she drew in a shaky breath and met Booth's eyes. The look she saw in them caused her own to widen slightly, and when Angela interrupted with their drinks, she was all too grateful, and downed her champagne within two minutes.

* * *

"Maybe I _am _glad I came," Hodgins commented, around a mouthful of food. "This prime rib is orgasmic."

Angela eyed him warily. "Just keep the orgasms on that side of the table, please."

Zack wrinkled his nose. "Gross."

Booth chuckled at the interaction, always amused by the 'Squint Squad' but never wanting to admit to it... and he turned his eyes to Brennan. His eyes flicked over her attire briefly -- a simple, but stunning black halter dress that dipped dangerously low in front and left her back enticingly bare, the flared skirt showing off her fantastic legs. He guessed that Angela had probably picked out the dress and forced her friend into it, for he knew that his Bones was not likely to keep a dress like that in the back of her closet. Or was she? Suddenly he was dying to know.

He draped his arm over the back of her chair again and leaned slightly toward her, watching her pick at her food. "Hey Bones? You in there?" he teased, tapping the finger of his free hand against her temple lightly.

She glared and swatted at his hand, causing him to raise it in surrender. "Hey, I come in peace," he chuckled. He then regarded her seriously, cataloguing her expression and the somewhat lethargic way she pushed her food around on her plate with her fork. "You sure you're alright?"

"Fine," she snapped. "I told you, I just don't want to be here."

Booth glanced up and met Angela's eyes, catching her mouthing something at him and jerking her head toward the dance floor, where the DJ had started to play the first song of the night -- a female cover of an old Paul McCartney song. He caught the hint immediately and nodded to Angela, then tossed his napkin onto his plate and rose to his feet. Extending a hand toward the cranky anthropologist, he asked, "May I have this dance?"

Brennan tossed a glance toward the dance floor, the song lyrics floating toward her...

_Maybe I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time, maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you_

On autopilot, she placed her hand inside Booth's, warmth enveloping her as he gently pulled her to her feet and gave her a winning smile. He led her onto the dance floor with his hand claiming its usual spot on her lower back. So consumed was she in the way his fingertips felt against the bare skin of her back, she didn't even notice the nod he gave to Angela, who nodded back and headed for the door.

_Maybe I'm amazed at the way you pulled me out of time, and hung me on a line_

He pulled her into his arms, quite a bit closer than in Aurora, and she draped an arm over his shoulders. Looking up into his calm, sable eyes, she found herself unwinding... relaxing. When did he develop the ability to do that to her? And just when did she start to need that feeling?

_Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you_

"Now that we're alone, Temperance..." Booth murmured, his lips featherly brushing the outer shell of her ear. "Tell me what, about being here, has you so down."

Brennan found herself closing her eyes at his voice in her ear, unconsciously drifting closer to the safety he emanated. She sighed out slowly, "I just don't like this holiday. I don't know why I don't, I just... don't."

_Maybe I'm a girl, maybe I'm a lonely girl who's in the middle of something that she doesn't really understand_

"Well, that certainly clears things up," he teased softly, winking at her when she glared at him. He chuckled and pulled her in a little tighter, his arm now possessively secured around her waist.

"Do you like this holiday?" she heard herself asking.

He pulled away slightly to properly look down at her, giving a facial shrug. "Well... if there's somebody around I care deeply for, then..." His slow-spreading smile, unbeknownst to him, incited a riot of butterflies in her stomach. "Then Valentine's Day isn't half bad."

_Maybe I'm a girl, and maybe you're the only man who could ever help me_

"What about this year?" She began to wonder why she started this conversation in the first place.

"This year?" His smile grew even more charming. "Well this year, I've gotten a free dinner and drinks on the Jeffersonian's tab, and I'm slow-dancing to a great song with a beautiful woman in my arms. This year, Valentine's Day is going pretty damn well."

She blushed at the compliment. "You don't mean that."

"Sure I do. This year, it's been a pretty nice--"

"I mean about me being beautiful."

_Baby, won't you help me understand_

He gently slowed their swaying to a stop, and furrowed his brows as he looked down at her. "You don't believe that you're beautiful? Or you don't believe that I _think_ that you're beautiful?"

"Either one, take your pick."

He shook his head. "Bones... Temperance, if you could see yourself as all the rest of us see you -- as I see you -- then..." He trailed off and shrugged one shoulder. Sighing, he met her eyes as they began to sway once more. "Bones, will you be my Valentine this year?"

At this, she raised her eyebrows. "What?"

_Maybe I'm amazed at the way you're with me all the time_

"Come on." He grinned rakishly. "Be my Valentine, Bones, you know you want to."

She couldn't help but chuckle. "What's involved in 'being a Valentine'? I've never had one before... or been one."

_Maybe I'm afraid of the way I leave you_

"Well..." He frowned thoughtfully. "I guess I'm not completely sure. As far as dancing goes," he grinned, "I'm pretty sure it means that your dance card is full for tonight. I'm your only dance partner."

She smiled back at him. "That shouldn't be a problem. Zack has two left feet, and Hodgins thinks dancing is the music industry's way of controlling the masses."

_Maybe I'm amazed at the way you help me sing my song, right me when I'm wrong_

"Alright, good then. So you'll be my Valentine?"

She blinked slowly, realizing Hodgins may have had a point -- she was feeling very seduced by the slow swaying, and by Booth's eyes. Was it getting warm? "I..."

_Maybe I'm amazed at the way I really need you_

Booth quirked his eyebrows momentarily, expectantly, while his 'charm smile' began its journey across his lips. She was finding it hard to breathe, and exhaled, "I... need some air," before breaking from his embrace and running for the door.

* * *

TBC

* * *

_**Author's Notes: **In this chapter, I borrowed the lyrics from Jem's cover of "Maybe I'm Amazed" (originally done by Sir Paul McCartney). Just a warning -- a lot of my inspiration for fics comes from (other than reviews) music, so there is bound to be a lot of mention of different songs in my fics. I also highly advise you to download these songs (if you can) and listen to them -- I am all for spreading my love of music. _

I'll hopefully have the final bit up either on or before V-day!


	2. Iris

TITLE: The Valentine in the Lights  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: So here I was, all set to finish up the final chapter of this story, when I realized that it would inevitably become three. Apologies to all that were expecting the conclusion, but there is still more to tell. I promise I will try my hardest to get the third (and final, I promise!) part up by the end of Valentine's Day as a gift to all my wonderful reviewers.

* * *

Booth had stared at her path of retreat for what felt like hours, though it was only until the song finished. He raked his fingers through his hair as a Nat King Cole song began to play, and as he started back to the table, he spotted Angela re-entering the ballroom. Meeting her eyes, he approached, his raised brows posing his silent question.

Angela nodded. "All set," she replied with a grin, then sobered as if just noticing her friend's absence. "Where'd she go?"

He was unable to hide his disappointment as he replied, "outside. We were dancing, and uh... she suddenly needed to get some air."

"What did you do to her?" she laughed, folding her arms across her chest.

Booth shrugged. "Nothing. I just... we were dancing, and I, half-kidding around, asked her if she wanted to be my Valentine. She freaked, and bolted."

Angela closed her eyes and shook her head. "Brenn..." she whispered. She tilted her head apologetically at the handsome federal agent. "I'm sorry, Booth."

"This is going to sound very conceited and I don't mean it to be, but... I think that was the first time a woman has ever ran, terrified, away from me."

"Listen, don't take it too seriously -- she just... she's afraid."

"Of me." He chuckled grimly.

"Sort of. It's hard to explain. It's not really that she's afraid of _you_, it's more like she's afraid of what you seem to be offering. I think she can see whatever is going on between you two, which..." She grinned. "It doesn't exactly take someone of her intellectual calibur to see it."

Booth rolled his eyes. "Maybe _I'm_ starting to wish I didn't have to be here."

Angela mirrored the eye-roll and gave him a shove. "Just go talk to her. She's probably out in the gardens."

"The gardens?"

"Out back," she nodded, then tossed a glance over her shoulder, where Zack and Hodgins were conversing at the table. "I'm going to go see if I can rope one of those guys into dancing with me."

Booth chuckled at this, "yeah, good luck with that," and thanked Angela before heading for the door.

Once he had stepped out the back doors, the gardens were easy to spot. A white-washed, vine-laden archway was the point of entry, the rest of the gardens hidden from view by the hedges -- seven or eight feet tall, from what Booth could tell -- and he slowly approached the archway. The last few lines of the Nat King Cole song filtered out of the small speaker above the back door as he ducked under the white-washed arch and into the gardens, his eyes immediately drawn upward.

Overhead, the gardens were blanketed in artificial starlight -- hundreds of thousands of small, decorative white lights -- and Booth smiled. A new song filtered out into the night, the opening guitar chords immediately recognizable as a Goo Goo Dolls song, and Booth meandered further into the maze-like hedges, stepping around a corner.

He spotted her on a cement bench, near the small fountain at the center of the gardens, and he drew in a breath at her beauty. The lights from the water played across her face in ebbing and rippling shapes, her entire form bathed in the glow of the faux stars above. It wasn't often he was allowed to admire her from afar at such a leisurely pace, so Booth welcomed the opportunity, though secretly he wished to reach out and touch her.

_I'd give up forever to touch you_

He kept his steps light, his pace slow, as he approached, not wanting to startle her out of the moment she was in. However, he knew instinctively that she could sense his presence. Since the beginning, they had been able to sense each other -- a skill that never ceased to amaze and startle Booth at the same time.

_'Cause I know that you feel me somehow_

He came around the side of the fountain, keeping his eyes on her the entire time until he was directly beside her, slowly taking a seat on the bench. She turned her eyes away from the fountain and met his, an apologetic smile spreading. He accepted and dismissed it with his own smile, and asked, "Can we try that whole dancing thing again, Bones?" He nodded toward the lights above them. "Under this cheesy, artificial starlight?"

_You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be_

Booth inwardly begged her to say yes... to not be afraid and just accept him -- accept the dance, accept what he was offering -- everything. He fought not to sigh out in relief when she nodded. He rose then, without hesitation, and took her hand, helping her to her feet.

_And I don't want to go home right now_

He held out his arms to her and she went into them willingly, draping an arm over his shoulder while she placed her other hand inside his, stepping close to him. He closed his eyes at her proximity and folded her hand against his chest, directly over his heart... keeping her hand covered with his own.

_All I can taste is this moment_

Brennan leaned against him and let her cheek rest against his, and Booth discretely turned his nose into her soft hair, inhaling its light, fresh scent as they began to sway. "Thank you," he murmured.

_And all I can breathe is your life_

Her soft chuckle tickled his ear. "For what?"

"For letting me dance with you." Booth paused, and boldly decided to take it a step further. "For letting me get close to you. I've got a feeling you don't let too many people do that." He pulled away and stared into her eyes, tripping his hand slowly... achingly slow... down her bare back and delighting in the very noticeable shiver she gave in response.

_And sooner or later it's over  
__I just don't wanna miss you tonight_

"I've danced with you before," she whispered, warmth suffusing her as he pulled her a little closer, rubbing up and down on her arms to generate heat.

She felt his cheek move against hers while he shook his head, his low voice scraping her already-sensitized nerve endings. "Never like this."

_And I don't want the world to see me  
__'Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

He was right. Brennan would never admit to it aloud, but he was right. They _had_ danced, but never so close. And the last time they danced she didn't remember the air around them being so charged with electricity... with possibility. She suddenly remembered why she had run out here in the first place. Because dancing with Booth had felt good. _Too _good.

_When everything's made to be broken  
__I just want you to know who I am_

Falling in love with the handsome fed had never been an option for her. She'd never allowed it to be. But now, held in the safety of his strong arms, feeling his fingertips glide up and down her back affectionately... she was starting to see just what a fantastic option it was. Falling in love with Booth. Yes. Yes, it was possible... scientifically. In fact, she should have taken her own scientific cues and gone by the rule of parsimony: the simplest explanation is often the correct one.

And what was the simplest explanation for the butterflies running rampant in her stomach every time he smiled? The simplest explanation for why his wink had the ability to defy science and melt the bones in her knees? Because, simply, she was falling in love with Seeley Booth.

The song went on, as did their swaying, and for a few brief, shining moments, Brennan believed that maybe, just _maybe_, Booth could make her happy. He definitely seemed like he wanted to, anyway. She gently pulled herself away from him and met his eyes. The soft, soulful brown irises consumed her, and she felt his heart thudding against her palm. It was probably following the same rhythm as her own.

A million thoughts, musings, and idle questions flitted through Booth's eyes in a second, and Brennan saw each and every one. Finally, almost breathlessly, she asked one simple question... "Why?"

Booth chuckled softly, his smile charming and already going to work on her knees, and he shook his head. "Oh, Bones. Are you looking for a scientific explanation for what's going on here?"

She just stared. Was she?

"Well... if you are, here's a little hypothetical situation for you: Let's say a man meets a woman. Maybe in a work capacity, or whatever. And let's say this man and this woman, while they don't really care for each other much at first, they respect each other completely. She's brilliant in her own ways, and he is in his. And let's say that, the more they work together, the more they realize that, despite their differences... they work well together. They _fit _well together. Both the man and the woman realize there's a chemistry there."

He started to lean close, and Brennan felt her heart suddenly jump into her throat. His voice dropped to a low whisper, and that combined with the glow of artificial starlight above seduced her into leaning close as well... even tilting her head in anticipation for the inevitable. He continued, "and let's say that before long, the chemistry becomes undeniable. It's more than the fact that they just work well together... they do everything well together. Argue, laugh, dance... anything and everything. That undeniable chemistry is making them feel maybe things that they shouldn't feel. But when they're together, everything just... _fits _so damn well, they can't help but wonder about a possible next step..."

Booth was now close enough to feel their breath mingling in the air between them, and each closed their eyes. "And let's say, that this man maybe starts to--"

"Guys!"

Brennan jumped away from her partner and spun around, folding her arms across her midsection protectively while Booth jerked his head up and stuffed his hands through his hair. Hodgins stood, wide-eyed and excited, near the hedges holding his glass of beer. "Zack is totally wasted and he's about to attempt the Macarena!"

Brennan's brows slowly furrowed, her close call with Booth fading to the back of her mind. "I don't know what that means."

"Well, then come and see for yourself! He's about to make a total ass of himself!"

Brennan threw a glance over her shoulder at Booth, her eyes sparkling their apology. As he watched her go, he stuffed his hands through his hair again in frustration and finished Hodgins' line of thought. "Like I just did?"

He huffed and shook his head, then stalked off, going around front to hail a cab. He wasn't going to give up. Not yet. There was still one hope left, and as he jumped into the cab and gave the driver the address of his destination, he prayed this final little attempt would work.

* * *

TBC

* * *

_**MORE Author's Notes: **As you guessed, this chapter included the song "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. A great BB song, if I do say so myself._


	3. Wonderwall

TITLE: The Valentine in the Lights  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Yeah, I know I said it would still be awhile for this one when I posted another chapter of 'Nothing Personal', but obviously my muse wanted to make a liar out of me. Be warned that this chapter bears a high-fluff rating. Sap and fluff and romance abound, so be careful ;)

* * *

Brennan rushed back inside the ballroom to find her young assistant doing some odd sort of choreographed dance in the middle of the dance floor, and all eyes were on him. She rolled her eyes and looked accusingly at Hodgins. "How could you let him drink so much?"

Hodgins, also a little drunk, laughed. "Hey, I didn't realize any time Zack comes out with us that I've gotta babysit! He's a big boy."

"Brenn, what are you doing in here?" Angela gestured over her shoulder, toward the doors. "I thought Booth went out to find you."

"Oh, he found her, all right," Hodgins piped up, tipping his head back to gulp down the rest of his beer.

Angela and Brennan grimaced in unison at the loud belch to escape his lips afterward. "And just what does that mean?" Angela asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"It means that I found Special Agent Booth and the good doctor, here, looking quite cozy in the gardens."

While Brennan rolled her eyes and went after Zack, Angela reached out to smack Hodgins in the arm, ignoring his yell of pain. "You ass! You interrupted them!"

"What the hell was I supposed to do? If there is a drunken Zack attempting to do an Earthling dance, that's comedy gold, and they had to be in on it."

"Zack? Zack!" Brennan ran up to her assistant and clasped his arm, drawing him away from the dance floor as the song ended.

"Dr. Brennan, did you see? Did you see me dance?" His shaggy brown hair was in slight disarray, and his eyes were glazed over.

"Yes, I saw."

"I swear I was getting checked out by some of the girls. Were they checking me out, Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan tossed a look over her shoulder at said-girls, watching them huddle together and giggle at his expense. "Yes, they were definitely staring." She steered her assistant over to the table and pushed him down into his chair. "Stay right here. I'm going to get you some coffee."

"You're so good to me, Dr. Brennan," Zack sighed, leaning his cheek on the table and closing his eyes. He furrowed his brows. "You know I've always had a crush on you? Yep. Always. Ever since your forensic anthropology class. It's just too bad that Booth already staked his claim over you. All that alpha male posturing... no one else stands a chance." He sighed to himself and seemed to snuggle against the table. "At least you can tell he'll be good to you, though."

Brennan, with slightly wide eyes, visibly shook off her assistant's babbling and went to the bar in search of a cup of coffee. She felt Angela sidle up next to her and turned her head. "What?"

Angela tilted her head apologetically. "Sorry Hodgins interrupted you two, Sweetie."

She made a face. "What is there to be sorry for?" She nodded her thanks at the bartender when he handed her the coffee. "We were just dancing."

Angela's voice was filled with sarcasm. "Yeah. Sure. Okay. On Valentine's Day... in the middle of a beautiful, picturesque garden under hundreds of thousands of romantic little lights. Just dancing. Right."

"What is it with you guys?" Brennan sighed, starting back to the table and fighting not to roll her eyes when Angela followed right on her heels. "First you... then Zack... then you again." She set the cup of coffee down in front of Zack and smiled when he thanked her exuberantly.

"Hodgins, too, actually. And Sweetie, what is 'with us' is that we see something there between you and Booth. Something that, for reasons I can't figure out, you are refusing to see."

"Maybe you guys should be badgering Booth, then."

"Nope." Angela shook her head. "There's no need -- because Booth sees it, honey. Why do you think he agreed to come to this thing with you? Do you really think he had nothing better to do on Valentine's Day? Look at the man!" She chuckled. "You _know_ he's got women lining up around the block to be with him, and yet who does he spend Valentine's Day with? You. Only you."

"I'm getting really tired of these discussions."

"Then open up your eyes and use that ginormous brain you were given, Sweetie. You're not blind _or_ stupid, so quit acting like it and I'll leave you alone." She glanced around the ballroom then while Brennan sighed exasperatedly. She looked at her best friend curiously. "Where _is _Booth, by the way?"

"Last I saw him, he was out in the gardens. I could have sworn he was going to follow me in here..." She looked over her shoulder with a furrowed brow, as if just noticing her partner's absence.

"Ow!" Zack leaned sharply back in his chair, his tongue hanging out of his mouth while he touched it. "That coffee is hot."

Hodgins, watching him from the other side of the table, nodded slowly. "I hear that's how they're making it now."

* * *

"Still no sign of him?" Angela asked upon her return from the ladies' room.

Her best friend sat with her elbow on the table, cheek propped in her hand as she stared forlornly at all the glitter. "No. And it's been almost an hour, already."

"He's not in the coat room or the men's room," Hodgins chimed in, stepping up to the table, "and there's no sign of him out in the gardens."

"I'm sorry, honey." Angela rubbed her friend's back, discretely checking her watch. When Hodgins looked to her inquisitively, she raised her brows and kept quiet, patting her friend on the back instead and leaning down to her. "Brenn, why don't you head home? Take the limo, I'm sure Dr. Goodman wouldn't mind."

"Wouldn't mind what?" Goodman's deep voice nearly startled Angela out of her skin, and she gave him a tight smile.

"You wouldn't mind if Dr. Brennan went home, would you?"

Before he could respond, Hodgins spoke up over the rim of a new glass of beer. "What about Booth? What if we find him?"

At this, Dr. Goodman raised his eyebrows. "I actually spotted Agent Booth while I was out back speaking with one of the Board members. He got into a cab and left."

"He stood you up?" Hodgins laughed.

Angela threw him a sharp glare, still rubbing Brennan's back supportively. "Booth would not 'stand her up'."

"And to stand me up would imply a date, which this was not. It's fine."

Goodman glanced down at Brennan. "Are you alright, Dr. Brennan? You look a little upset."

"I'm fine," she sighed wearily, rubbing her hands over her eyes before letting them fall to her lap. She pushed herself to a standing position, shrugging off Angela's hand. "I think maybe I'll just walk home." She gestured toward the doors. "It's just a few blocks to my place, and... it's a nice night out for February."

"You are more than welcome to use the limousine, Temperance," Dr. Goodman intoned gently, noting her seemingly-depressed state.

"Thank you, Dr. Goodman, but I'll be okay. I just need to go home and go to bed, I think."

Angela frowned sympathetically and reached out to give her best friend a hug. "Alright. Call me tomorrow, Sweetie, okay?"

"I will," she promised, and bid goodnight to everyone else before heading out the door.

* * *

Brennan kept her eyes on the pavement beneath her the entire walk home, finding that what she had told Dr. Goodman and everyone else was a lie. She wasn't fine. She was sad. Sad that her dance in the gardens with Booth was cut short... sad that he left without telling her... sad that yet another Valentine's Day left her disappointed. She then admonished herself -- what did she expect it to be? She and Booth were not an item, despite her coworkers' obvious betting to the contrary. He was not her official 'date' to this event, so she had no reason whatsoever to be sad.

But dancing with him, being close to him, had felt so damn good. That, she was not blind to. She was never blind to any of it, in fact. She just trained herself to continually push the burgeoning feelings for Booth away, for the good of their working relationship. Tonight, however... being in his arms... she realized she couldn't push it away anymore. But she was the one that ran -- twice. First, using the excuse that she needed some air... then, when he predictably followed her and tried again, she used Hodgins' interruption to run again. She needed to stop running and just accept it -- accept the dances, accept what Booth was offering her -- basically, to just accept the inevitable.

Brennan paused once she reached her driveway, inwardly feeling a strange but thrilling surge of electricity. Her eyes were drawn upward of their own accord, and she gasped loudly at what she saw:

On her lawn was the outline of a giant red heart, made of dozens of strings of red Christmas lights. The inside of the heart was strewn with rose petals, and in the middle of the heart stood Seeley Booth... smiling that charming, soul-piercing smile of his. Her hand floated to her erratically thudding heart as she then spotted what was next to the lighted heart -- strings of white Christmas lights looped together in cursive, spelling out the words 'Be Mine.'

Brennan met his eyes, her own wide in shock, and chuckled as he smiled. "Booth, what is this?"

He glanced around at the lights, "this is my attempt at asking you seriously to be my Valentine, Temperance Brennan -- something that, hopefully, you will find cute and romantic." He shrugged, an impish grin breaking forth. "If not, then... this is me making an ass of myself. Again."

"How did you..."

"Angela helped set everything up. I just ducked out early to grab this..." He stepped to the side and gestured to the portable boom box on the lawn behind him.

Still stunned as she stepped toward him, careful of the lights, she took the hand he offered, and allowed him to pull her into the heart. He emitted a hopeful smile. "Does this mean yes?"

Brennan nodded automatically, still staring at the beautiful display of lights and rose petals around them. "Why did you do this?"

"Well..." He nudged one of the buttons on the boom box with his foot, soft music beginning to play. "You know those two people I mentioned earlier? That man and that woman that met all those months ago?"

_Today's gonna be the day that they're gonna give it back to you_

"Yeah..." She smiled up at him and accepted his arms around her, looping her own around his neck as they began to slowly sway for the third time that evening.

_By now you should've somehow realized what you gotta do_

"Well, let's say that, that man fell in love with that woman. That he maybe even started falling in love with her way back when they were first getting to know one another. And let's say that's the real reason he and his girlfriend broke up -- because she accused him of being in love with this woman and he didn't deny it. He _couldn't_ deny it."

_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now_

Her eyes went wide again. "I'm the reason you and Tessa broke up?" She shivered as his hands tickled gently up and down her back as she continued, "I thought it was the whole Jamaica thing."

_Back beat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out_

"Well, Jamaica was sort of the catalyst," he explained, "but it had been a long time coming. I met you, and... soon after, being with Tessa didn't hold the same attraction it used to. She wasn't a challenge for me. You were." He grinned and laid a finger against her lips when she began to protest. "And I mean that in a good way."

_I'm sure you've heard it all before, you never really had a doubt_

Brennan smiled against his finger and blinked slowly. He chuckled, removing his finger from her lips to pull her close, and leaned his forehead on hers. "Oh, Bones," he sighed. "Bones, Bones, Bones."

"What?" she chuckled back, locking her arms tight around his neck and revelling in the butterflies his closeness gave to her.

_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now_

"Nothing, just..." He pulled back again to smile lovingly into her eyes, moving an errant piece of hair that was obstructing her vision. "You've completely ruined me from wanting to be with anyone else."

_And all the roads we have to walk are winding, and all the lights that lead the way are blinding_

"I have, have I?" she laughed, and allowed herself to caress the short hair at the nape of his neck.

_There are many things that I would like to say to you, but I don't know how_

"Mm-hmm." He leaned in to nuzzle her ear, dropping his voice to a whisper as he added, "and I've fallen hopelessly in love with you."

_Said maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me_

Her heart leapt at the words and she pulled back, searching his eyes with her own. What she found there was honest and genuine -- he really was in love with her. It was something that should have scared her... _would_ have scared her had it been any other man... but with Booth, all it did was allow her to release her own months-old confession, "I've fallen in love with you too."

_You're gonna be the one that saves me_

The smile that lit his features was seen only briefly as he started to bring their lips together. When they were no more than a hair's breadth away from touching, he paused with a grin.

"What?" she whispered, desperate now for him to close the distance as their lips just barely touched.

_And after all, you're my wonderwall_

He exhaled another beatific smile, the movement causing their lips to brush feather-lightly again, and he shivered as she whimpered. He slid his hand around to cup the back of her neck. "Just waiting to see if we'll be interrupted again," he whispered against her lips.

He felt her smile back against his lips as she whispered back, "I think we'll be okay this time."

_You're my wonderwall_

"Good." He seduced her lips with a slow glide of his own across them, and he pecked at her mouth when she sighed happily. As they began to nibble at each other's lips, he quipped, "Because if Hodgins jumps out to interrupt us again, I'll pull my gun and shoot him."

She giggled against his lips and kissed him deeply before adding, "If Hodgins interrupts us, _I'll _pull your gun and shoot him."

Booth grinned against her mouth, "that's my girl," and pulled her in for another kiss.

* * *

FINIS

* * *

_**More Author's Notes: **See? Told you it'd be saptastic. Hopefully it wasn't too unbearable, though ;) And yes, that was indeed the Ryan Adams version of 'Wonderwall.' _

_More Bonesfics to come, have no fear! _


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